On our planet, the number of inhabitants has increased a lot in the last 2 centuries.

In 1800, there were 1 billion human beings. Today, we are 8 times that number!

This strong increase is explained by the progress of medicine and by the improvement of living conditions everywhere in the world.

We are better treated than before, we are better protected against microbes, we eat better.

The result is people live longer, fewer children die in infancy and so there are more people on earth.

But is the population increasing everywhere the same?

No. Because in many countries, like in France, women have had fewer children for several decades.

The population of these countries has almost stopped growing. Sometimes it even decreases a little, like in Japan. It is said that those countries have made their “demographic transition”.

However, in the poorest countries, such as Ethiopia, India, this transition is not complete. Their populations are growing.

The number of children per woman is still high. However, it is gradually decreasing.

The population of these countries will therefore continue to grow, but at a slower rate.

And the increase will eventually stop within a few decades.

Thus, the world population should reach nearly 10.5 billion by 2080, and then stabilize.